Determinants of adoption of conservation Agriculture by communal farmers in Masvingo district,Zimbabwe

Abstract

Conservation agriculture has been advocated as a viable practice to improve productivity, food security and poverty alleviation among communal farm households in Zimbabwe. Previous empirical studies have shown that, despite its documented benefits, the adoption rates of conservation agriculture by communal farmers have been rather mixed. This has raised a question of whether it matters “who and how” promoters target in promoting conservation agriculture. This paper uses a logit model to investigate the determinants of adoption of conservation agricultural practices by communal farm households in Masvingo district. The marginal effects results showed that conservation agriculture in Masvingo District has most been adopted by young female farmers. Further determinants of adoption found to be significant are awareness and access to information and extension services, household size, membership to local organisations and farming experience. The significance of estimation results is that it matters who and how promoters target in creating the “awareness effect” and in dissemination of information about this technology. The study thus enables us to add further empirical evidence and insights towards understanding the factors that affect communal farmers’ adoption decisions. This will assist both promoters and policy makers to devise appropriate interventions if higher incremental adoption rates are to be achieved.